Through A Heartless' Eyes
by N the puppet
Summary: Sora and the gang meet an very strange...enemy. Actually, is it an enemy?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: KH2 not mine.

* * *

"So..." A shadow spoke out.

**"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy." **The other shadows simply continued moving.

"The weather's nice today...dark and dreary..." He commented, as it _was_ the middle of the night.

**"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy." **The other shadows paid no attention whatsoever.

"I'd kill for some hearts! Hah! I'm kidding." He remarked, trying to get their attentions.

**"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy." **They didn't even bat an eye.

"So I said to the Soldier, 'That's not a Heartless, it's just a Nobodie!'." It chuckled, still trying to get their attentions.

**"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy." **Only to fail again.

"Get it? Nobodie? No one important?"

**"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy." **

"Uh, I'm not talking to myself..." He stopped moving.

**"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy." **The others continued.

"...Okay...I am talking to myself."

* * *

For the love of...is it that hard to strike up a conversation?! "Grah!" A slashed one of the buildings in frustration, flinching from the loud screeches I made. It was the same everyday. I try to talk to them, but nooooo, they have to go **_"Destroy. Destroy. Destroy."_ **What are they even trying to destroy? Heck, how _can_ they 'destroy' when a kid with some cartoon animals comes from who knows where and beats them up? That kid with his...something key. Car key? House key?

Whatever, it had something to do with key.

I melted myself into the ground the moment I saw that weird thing-a-ma-bob appear, claymores or something, making those weird bombs again. Once I knew I was safe, I watched my...what were they now? 'Company' I guess, were being blown into the sky, only to be blown up again into tiny pieces. Some of them were actually smart, melting into the ground the moment the bombs are released. Naturally, we are invulernable in this state, so the bombs had no effect at all.

However, doing this is like swimming. If we weren't careful, we could accidently die because to 'melt' we need to hold our breaths. This is probably why you never see a a shadow stay 'melted' for too long. Then again, I wonder if these brainless things even _need_ to breathe?

The moment I returned back to normal, I took a deep breath, and 'melted' again. The others, did not. They were tossed around like objects, until they were blown apart.

I sighed at the scene, and climbed the building sitting beside me all while 'melted' I tell you. When I reached the top, I returned back to normal again, and scratched my antennas. Though the bombs did a good job in eliminating shadows, it wouldn't actually aim for the shadows from what I've seen. It mearly prevents attacks on the **city** itself. So I could be hurting normal people, it wouldn't care. Now, when I slashed across this building...that's a different story. I could only think that the city's defence system had a mind of its own on how to do things. I guess it does protect the people...but still...

Also, yes, I do realize that I'm the reason why all those shadows were blown apart. However, I could care less, as they come in a dime a dozen pretty much. "(Sigh) This really sucks."...However, I do mind the fact that I'm different from all of them. No matter what I do or say, its like I'm invisable to them. And when facing humans...heck, they run away screaming for help, and some random ninja appears out of nowhere to 'take care of me'. I have so many questions, but so very few-

(Poke.)

...My thinking was abruptly stopped, when I felt pressure on my head.

(Poke. Poke.)

I had failed to notice the figure beside me, and dared not turn around. Why?

"D...Did you just...?" We Heartless don't need to 'see' to 'see' you. Sounds strange because it is. Basically, we have two types of vision. Normal, or dark. How dark is different from normal is we do not see anything but darkness. The only thing that we see in that darkness is light...that comes from people, or other living creatures. It's actually pretty useless in my opinion.

So, when I'm using my 'dark' vision, and see nothing but light, it means either two things.

1. I'm surrounded by people, which is NOT the case.

2. Key kid is behind me.

* * *

Sooo, yeah, the answer was number two. I wonder if it was karma, sending so many of my kind to the other world...wait, isn't that a good thing? Then again, I've never tried 'died' myself, so I wouldn't know.

"Talk." Damn. While I was thinking the key user took out his...Key...key...

Key-something...What the heck was it called?

When I was touched by the infernal thing, I yelped, falling off the building in the process. Due to my body made of a gel like substance, it didn't really hurt me too much. Except the burning on my back was NOT going away.

"ARGH!" It was like my back was on fire, and I was rolling over the ground trying to put that 'fire' out. Even though there was no fire, it did make me feel a bit better. I was still pissed though. "You stupid...how about I stick a torch to your back and see how YOU like it?!" I shouted, but wished I hadn't. Buildings were lighting up, and people were grumbling.

**"What's going on?!"**

**"It's the middle of the night!"**

**"Who's there?!"**

Boo hoo. It's wasn't like the world would end if they lacked a bit of sleep. However, I did not want to stick around because an angry mob didn't sound very fun. I 'melted' into the ground and made my escape.

* * *

When I couldn't hear them anymore, I thought the coast was clear, and returned to normal.

(Thwack!)

"Gotcha!"...Only to be hanging in the air by my neck. "You _can_ talk, can't you?!"

"Well, I won't be talking anytime soon if you keep CHOKING ME!!" I hissed. The kid let go one of his hands. "Uh...the other one?" And pointed his key...key...

"Blizzard!" A chunk of ice tossed be back into a wall, and froze me to it.

"COLD!" That sonuva gun...

"Alright, start talking." The kid said again. "First, how can you talk?"

"I move my lips, stupid." I snapped. I realized what he meant by that, but I guess I was just bored. I have never talked to someone before, _that actually talked back._

"Stupid?" He seemed shocked, isn't this the part when someone gets mad? "What I meant is how you, a heartless, is talking."

"Heartless...?...Oh yeah, that's what we are." I thought out loud. "Um, I dunno. I just do?"

"Hmm." He began thinking for a moment, and then looked as though an idea stuck him. "I know." He pointed his keyblade at-THAT'S WHAT IT WAS!! "Blizzard!"

"GWEH!" I froze even more. "What the h-"

"BLIZZARD!"  
"GAH!"  
"BILZZARD!"  
"WAH!"  
"BLIZZARD! BLIZZARD! BLIZZARD!!!"

I swear, if that kid yells out that ice spell again, I'll knock him out flat. HOWEVER, that is, if I wasn't stuck in this godforsaken chunk of ice.

* * *

Now, I can't remember what happened after, probably blacked out due to the cold temperature, but I somehow found myself stuck in a messy building, with books on the ground everywhere.

And a few other people who I would be glad to NOT see. Loner, ninja girl, flower girl, old man, old wizard, duck, dog...thing, and...key...key...

"It's awake!" Well, I forgot. A_gain_. And from what I can see...I am really _screwed_.

"Fu-"

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

Hmm...

This...was awkward.

Here I was, stuck in the middle of everyone I did NOT want to ever meet, stuck under their heavy gazes. I was still in that blasted block of ice, covered my entire body save for my head, which explains why I couldn't feel my legs. However, one thing bothered me...

"So." I said, causing a few to jump back, others just remained still. "Why, am I stuck upside DOWN!?" I shouted. Seriously, what gives?! I'm been caught, okay, I've been surrounded by people I would rather not meet, okay...

BUT I WAS FRICKEN UPSIDE DOWN!!

My head was hurting, as holding a block of ice that's my body is **not** fun. Gravity wasn't helping me either. "SERIOUSLY! I wanna know who's wise idea was to squash my head with my own fricken body!"

"Uh...me?" Key guy...I should've known...(A Grave Tone.) "I didn't really know...well...where your head was.

"WHAT?!" I screamed now. "You uncovered my head! How can you **not** know where my head was?! That doesn't make sense!!"

"You broke your head free on your own."

"Still! These dots on my face aren't decoration! THEY ARE EYES!!!!" So the reason I was having a heavy headache was because I woke up at the wrong position. That's just swell.

"I see what you mean, Sora." Psh! And here I thought Loner guy was mute. "He's certainly...different." Uh-huh, yeah, so what? "But...I'm not sure if we should let-"

"C'mon, Leon!" Ugh, ninja girl. "Seems pretty interesting. Why not?" Why not? Why not what??!

"..." Oh, loner's gone mute again.

"I guess I can whip something like that up...though I dunno if we can trust this geezer's magic." Whip what up?!

"Geezer!? You're no spring chicken yourself!" Ah, Old.W vs Old.M. But seriously, whip what up?

"Alright." Loner's talking again. "But the moment it-"

"HE." I stretched out. I'm a male thank you very much. The loner sighed.

"Right...the moment..._he_-" Oh, sarcasm now? "-doesn't listen. Destroy him."

"HAH!" I laughed. "Me listen to what? You guys?! NO way!" I liked my freedom, despite how lonely it was. To be treated like a dog is a life I'd rather die than have!

"Really now?" Crap. I was thinking outloud wasn't I? "You sure were." Double crap!

"Lonely?" Aw hell. "You felt...lonely?" The kid asked.

"Yeah, so?" I sounded pathetic.

"Lonely...that is very strange." The old wizard tugged his beard. Doesn't that hurt? Then again, he could be stroking it...ah, why am I thinking about beards now?! "A Heartless should be unable to have emotions...and..." Uh-oh, he's giving me that** 'you're not supposed to exist look'.**

"Yeah! You're just a Heartless! You only go around stealing-eating hearts!" What was that? Did ducky there just say something? (If it weren't for the subtitles, I'd be second-guessing what he was saying.)

"You're riiiiight, I'm just a mindless creature that loves eating hearts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I have at least 3 hearts per meal, ducky." I **really** shouldn't provoke them, but I couldn't help it. I was pissed. Again.

"Has quite the attitude doesn't it?"

"Hmph!" I ignored the ninja. "Alright! I've had enough of this game!" I always hate doing this, but right now, unless I want to kiss the behind goodbye, I suppose I had no choice.

* * *

(3rd PV)

"What the?!" Before he knew it, Sora, along with the others, were sent out of their own 'base', we could call it, by a large amount of darkness. "It's...it's doing something.."

"HE! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!" The shadow yelled in a loud voice. The darkness gathered together, into the 'base'. "I REALLY didn't want to do this...but..." He emerged from the 'base'. "You left me no choice." And he wasn't a shadow anymore, he was...

* * *

"A SOLDIER!?" After that sudden outbreak, the key kid suddenly began laughing, as did the cartoon animals. "A soldier!? THAT'S what you were doing?! Turning into a weak Soldier?"

(Twitch)

Actions speak louder than words, they say. And they were right.

(BAM!)

"Woah!" With a nice left kick, I managed to knocked 'hyuck-hyuck' into a nearby trash pile.

"Goofy!" I leaped above key kid, and gave a nice STOMP on that thick-head of his. He managed to avoid hitting the ground though, and before I could do anything else, a bolt of lightning hit me. That damn duck. He began quacking away, (how does he even cast spells talking like that?), hitting me with bolts of lightning. It seems key kid recovered too, hitting me back with his key...key...screw it.

"Tch!" It hurt like hell. And lightning was NOT helping my mood. "Would you quit it?!" I stomped my foot into the ground, and lightning suddenly began spreading before me.

"Huh?" _'Welcome sir, what would you like?'_. "QUACK!" _'Well, a roasted duck seems appetizing'_.

"Donald!"_ 'Good choice sir.'_ Now that I actually have some time to look around, I saw loner, ninja, flower, wizard, and geezer were no where around. Where'd they go? "Why you!" The key kid charged at me.

"Bring it, Spiky!"

* * *

(3rd PV)

"Are you sure, you're not going to help?" Yuffie asked the loner. "That thing's pretty tough, knocked Goofy and Donald out in one blow." Leon shook his head

"Sora asked for it, so he deals with it."

"**HE** GODAMMIT! **HE**!! WHAT ARE YOU, DEAF!!" A large voice echoed from outside. "HOW ABOUT I CALL YOU EMO FAG, YOU SONUVA-!" And curses were listed out for all to hear. Leon slowly pulled out his gunblade.

"Oh, no. You said it yourself. Sora deals with i-him." Yuffie caught herself.

"SEE, EMO FAG! SOME PEOPLE **_CAN_** HEAR!!" Yuffie and Aerith both grabbed an arm, holding the ex-Seed member back. Merlin and Cid simply began working on whatever they were working on.

"Despite being just a soldier, that Heartless was capable of evolving...very interesting..."

"Less talking, more working, old timer." Cid was then blown back by a blast of fancy magic.

* * *

I swear, in the name of darkness, if key kid touches me with that blasted key again, I'll-

(THWACK!)

THAT IS THE LAST STRAW!! I grabbed the key, felt like my hand was going to burn off I'll tell you, and threw it as far as I could. :) "HA!" The key kid let out a smirk, the key reappeared in his hands. :( "...Where do you get off?!" And I was hit square in the face.

OW.

* * *

I hissed, growled, cursed, and did not want to find out what was going to happen to me. Argh, and changing always takes so much energy out, it's simply exhausting... "(YAWN)..." I couldn't even believe how I was restrained. Flowers. Pink, freakin, flowers-

**Note, I will PERSONALLY beat the hell out of anyone that says 'Flower Power'. THIS IS A WARNING.**

A-hem, anyways, yeah, my body, pride, and dignity were completely ruined.

"I'm sorry, but you'll just have to bear with it." I looked up, seeing flower girl. Very dangerous. She's a 'pure' person, no darkness in that girl. If I'm not careful, I could be purified just by her words, and that would mean...death.

"It's finished!" Oh, the moment of truth. I looked, and saw a weird collar-like object...the word 'dog' repeatedly echoed in my head along with some barking. "This collar will have that Heartless obey you're every command, Sora." Wait, what?!

"Yeah, right! Like I'll listen to-hey, what are you doing?! Get off!!" I squirmed as the old man tried to slip the collar on my neck. Fortunatley, I managed to give a swift blow the the baby-maker, causing him to fall back, crawling into a ball and taking deep breaths. I laughed.

"Y-Y-you so-uva..." Wow, that must've hurt a lot. He sounded like he'd cry at any moment. The laughter was short-lived, as someone put the collar on me.

"What?!" The flowers were gone, thank the gods, and I began to pry the collar off. It wouldn't come off. "What the heck!?" I pulled, I scratched, but it was still on.

"Now, Sora, listen carefully." Oh those bastards... "From now on, that Heartless can't go against you. In fact, it can't even get away from you. He's going to be stuck to you, no matter what."

"That's not gonna happen!" I charged at the old wizard. "Take this blasted thing off!"

"Perfect, now..." The old wizard switched places with the key kid, and just as I made contact...

"BZZAH!!!!!" I screamed, as I felt like I was being both roasted and shocked alive. I could faintly see a light-blue light surround me, before blacking out.

* * *

(3rd PV)

"Uh..." Sora poked the roasted Soldier. "Merlin...he isn't dead, right?"

"Oh no, just unconscious...I think." The old wizard scratched his head. "Odd. I didn't think it'd have that much kick in it."

* * *

I can't believe it.

"Oh, my head..." I can't believe it. "Huh? What?! Why is that Heartless?!" I can't believe it.

"Easy Donald, he's good now." I can't believe it.

"You're joking!?" I can't believe it.

"Nope. Thanks to that collar, he can't go back against me." **I can't believe it.**

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea though, Sora." I freakin can't believe it.

"It'll be good. See? Hasn't said a word since he felt the 'feedback'."

(Twitch) (Twitchtwitchtwitch)

"Uh...Sora?"

"Hm?"

"He's...twitching..."

**"I CAN'T FREAKIN BELIEVE THIS!!" **I screamed as loud as I could. I could feel my feet wobbling, the ship was shaking.

"OW! Take it easy!"

"I don't need to hear that from you, key kid!"

"It's Sora!" He suddenly replied. "My name is Sora!" He pointed to the dog and duck. "He's Goofy, and he's Donald." Bah, like I care. I didn't even look at key ki-...Sora, just minding my own business looking at the stars. They were really bright.

"And?" He's still talking? "What's your name?" ....?

....My name? My....name....?

"I don't think...I have a name." I responded. Now that I think about it...what is my name? Then again, I've never talked to anyone so I guess I never needed one. Still...a name...

"Really? Well...how about we give you one?" What?

"How about Shadow?" No wonder you're named Goofy. THERE ARE MANY SHADOWS!!

"Bug. So I can squash him later." Quack quack quack, ducky.

"Hmm...how about Shade?"

"Shade?!"

"Don't like it?"

"...It's fine." I turned my head around, going back to looking at the stars.

...

...I really didn't understand. I felt kind of...happy. It was just a name, a title. But...it really made me happy....


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: KH2 not mine.

* * *

Well, not even 10 minutes in the small ship and already I was getting grumpy. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful for the name and all...

...But they all wouldn't shut up.

"So how did you transform like that? It was cool!"

"You're back to normal? How's that work?"

"You're pretty strong, how come you're with the Heartless?"

"Agh!" I screamed in frustration, the ship began shaking. "In order, I just can, I can't stay transformed forever, and I was never with the Heartless in the first place!" Just be quiet and let me think.

"Hmm..." Sora was thinking deeply, as did his two friends. He suddenly had a creepy grin, and I slowly stepped back.

"What's with that grin?!"

"Oh, nothing." He laughed. Turning his back on me, he went back to controlling the ship. Guess he decided to stop using auto-pilot. Well, at least I got to look at the stars. Back on Hollow Bastion, you could barely see them for some dumb reason. They were so close, I almost thought I could reach out and grab one...

(Woosh!)

"Argh!" I spun and crashed into the ground.

"Whoops, sorry Shade! I was just dodging some asteroids." I heard him snickering. The ship was originally for three people only, so yeah, I didn't have a seat. Which means no seat belt, which meant-

(Whoosh!)

"Gyiah!" As I had nothing keeping me still, I was smeared to the top of the cockpit. I literally had to peel my face off the strange, soft material. (Did you know? Gummi ships are like their name, very soft and sweet smelling. It's very strange how it could withstand beams, bombs, and metal claws as if they were nothing. Maybe disaster-proof?)

"Actually..." I was bored, and wanted to talk. "Can I ask what your story is?" About NOTHING concerning me, but them.

"Our story?" Donald asked.

"Yeah, like what are you guys trying to achieve?" I was curious. If I was stuck travelling with them, might as well get to know them.

Just so you know, **a note to the readers**, I am NOT acting friendly. I'm just getting some information. There's a difference!!

"Well..." Sora was the first to speak. "I'm trying to look for my best friend, and a king." Huh? You're related to royalty now?

"A best friend...and a king..." I began trying to think how those two have anything to do with each other.

"Well...see..." I listened carefully to what they said. Some parts I could care less...but...I had to admit, I was intrigued. The pain they endured, the battles...

By the time he finished speaking, we were already at our destination.

The Land of Dragons.

* * *

When we were just above the world's atmosphere, all of us were suddenly engulfed by light, stung my eyes in fact.

"Okay, we're here!" I heard Sora say. Sticking my arms out, I began to touch what was around me. "Uh, what are you doing Shade?" Well Sora, you see, when a bright light shines in our eyes, were are temporary blind.

"Yeah, well, can you warn me about things like that? Shadows don't exactly like bright lights in their eyes."

"Er, sorry." Blinking, my vision slowly returned to normal, and I noticed we were walking through a bamboo grove. Not only that... "Hey...Shade?" I had changed. I was no longer a shadow, but a Nightwalker. "You transformed!" I could tell the three of them were looking at me.

"Looks like it, and it doesn't feel like I'll change back." It felt weird. Like I got stronger, but only by a little. "And before anyone asks, I don't know. This is the first time it's happened."

"Gawrsh, Shade. Could it be the worlds will change your looks?" Goofy's words made me think. That would make sense, as there was an awful lot of darkness flowing around. Didn't seem like they noticed, but it was a lot stronger than the one at Hollow Bastion.

"That's probably it. When we went to certain worlds, our looks changed." Sora said, however, suddenly muttered. "SHH!" He began pointing in the distance, where we saw a huge shadow of something.

"A Heartless?"

"Let's get the jump on them!" Sora said. Nodding to each other, Donald and him ran at the rocks, leaping at whatever was there. However...they only managed to collide with each other, falling down, and spooking some kind of red lizard to run around.

"Gawrsh, maybe we should look before we leap." Goofy said.

"Not we, Goofy, but them." I said.

* * *

"So...why is that thing here?"

"Thing, huh?" I glared at the lizard. It seems that the lizard was a friend of Sora's, from his adventure before this one, named Mushu. Had quite the mouth on it, I'd say.

However, Mulan was a bit nicer. "Nevermind what he says, here." She stuck her hand out. "Nice to meet you, Shade." And I stared at it, like it was some foreign obect. Slowly, I lifted my claw...and placed in her hand. I was being careful though, as I didn't wast to hurt her. She shook it, smiling. It was...I dunno...different. (Though I wonder if she ever gave a thought to what I was. She didn't seem bothered by it...)

"N-Nice to meet you." Thank god I was a Heartless, otherwise I think my face would've been blushing. I've never been treated 'normal' while like this.

"Now, Sora, remember how I helped you before?" Mushu began, and from his tone, I knew where this conversation was going to go. "How about you be a pal, and repay it by helping ol' Ping here? Whaddya say?" Yup, figures.

"Mushu!"

"Sure." I dropped my jaw. That was too fast of a response, Sora. "Sounds fair." Somewhat.

"Would you join us? It'll be easier to fit in if I'm with guys, like you." Mulan said.

"What do you mean, 'fit in'?" Sora asked, and from how I see it...

"Sora, he's a she." I said. Both he and Donald stared at me, then back at Mulan.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Oi, oi, you guys can't be serious. You REALLY didn't know she was a girl?

"You're pretendin' to be a boy, aren't you?" Goody said, which surprised me. He noticed it too. Mulan held a straight face, only to giggle after.

"You two didn't notice?" She was starting to lighten up.

"Uh-uh."

"No." Well, that's sad.

"I think I can do this." Mulan said to Mushu, who only shook his head.

"I don't know Mulan...these two would fall for anything." True...very true.

"I'm right here."

"Hey!" I let out a chuckle, seeing the two were somewhat offended.

"Whatever, let's hurry and go!" But then I realized something important.

"Uh, Sora?" While the others walked, I grabbed the key user's shoulder. "I'm going to stay low, alright? I don't think they'd be happy if I'm with you guys." I said.

"Wha? But, how-" I melted into the ground, entering the key user's shadow. The last thing I heard him say was 'Woah'.

* * *

(3rd PV)

"Shade? Hey, Shade?" Sora began tapping his own shadow. If anyone was around, they'd think he was crazy.

_"What?" _Sora heard a voice echo in his head.

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to make sure you were still here."

_"I couldn't leave if I wanted to, remember the collar?" _Though it was true, Sora still felt kinda sad on how the Heartless said that. Like he was robbing something from someone. _"You know, you should keep your thoughts less open. I can hear them." _

"Wha?!"

_"Hmm...though I hate the fact you DID take away my freedom, I'll have to say, this is a bit better than trying to talk to other shadows." _Sora heard Shade laugh a bit. _"...It's nice having people you can talk to around." _Sora grinned.

"Oh, so you're starting to trust us?"

_"WHAT?!" _Shade's voice echoed in Sora's head. _"Oh damn, don't tell me he can hear my thoughts...Argh! I can hear them too!" _Sora laughed, Goofy and Donald looked back at him.

"What's so funny, Sora?" Goofy asked. Sora shook his head.

"It's nothing, let's hurry!" He ran past the two cartoon characters.

"We were waiting for you!" Donald stated, while he and Goofy gave chase.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: KH2 not mine. Also, I WILL NOT BE DESCRIBING CERTAIN BATTLE SCENES, OR BATTLES IN GENERAL, AS I SUCK AT THAT!

* * *

_"It's my lucky charm, be sure to give it back alright?"_

_"Okay."_

_**Huh? Where the heck...?**_

_"Sora!"_

_"Kairi!"_

_**Ohhhh, it's his memories...Kairi eh?**_

_"I won't give you Kairi's heart!"_

_**So this is Kairi...Spiky's got a girlfriend I see-wait a sec, Why the heck am I seeing his memories in the first place?! Crud, I haven't gotten too close to his memories have I?...ARGH! LEMME OUT!!**_

_---_

"WOAH!" Whoop de friggin doo. I managed to get out of his memories before I became a part of them. NOW, the problem here, is that I did so trying VERY hard. In fact, it was to the point where I whipped myself in the air very fast. How fast? Well...the scenerary's a blur to me...and the rock wall ahead of me is getting bigger by the sec-

(CRUNCH!)

...

"Mmph Mpmh Mhph!" Yum yum. Who _doesn't_ love the taste of dirt and granite the moment they wake up. I SURE DON'T!!

"Wha-! Shade?! Goofy, Donald, gimme a hand!" Oh joy. Now I've humiliated myself in front of spiky. This day is just getting better. Luckily, they managed to get me out without any problems.

"Ptooo!" I spit out all the junk that was in my mouth.

"What were you doing? Going into the wall like that?"

"I got too close to your heart, your memories, so I tried to get out." I sighed. "Thing is, I tried TOO hard."

"My heart?"

"Eh, a body and its shadow are connected. I could go on and on about this, but we'll leave it at that." I felt weak and tired. I guess this is what happens when you have a creature of darkness get close to light. Looking around, I saw we were walking up some kind of trail. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"Oh that's right, you don't know..."

"...?"

* * *

"To sum it up, we're fighting for China?" I shook my head. "I guess, if that's your choice." Thanks to good ol' colly over here on my **neck**, I can't really go against what spiky says. I looked at spiky, seeing him drink out of a water canteen...probably given to him when he was in the army camp. I was bored, so I thought I'd shock him somehow...hmm...I got it! "So, you have a thing for that Kairi girl, right?" I laughed. Because spiky just spat out all the water he was drinking at ducky, who was in front of him.

"*&^%$##!_+" I have absolutley no idea what Ducky was trying to say, but he did a good job showing he was angry. Lightning raining on a clear day is a pretty good hint.

* * *

Well, we managed to reach the village. In one piece, thankfully. (An angry duck is a blind duck.) However, obviously, lots of people and soldiers were walking around. Sooo, without a word, I snuck behind Sora, and possesed (you could say) his shadow. Thankfully, the guys were smart enough to understand why.

_"Too many people?"_ I heard Spiky's mind say.

_"Hmm, no, not really."_ I said sarcastically. He just laughed, which is weird, because it was a mentally laugh. I had to admit though, usually when I posess other people's shadow they act, well, possessed. Like off of horror movies, they shake uncontrollably, saliva drips down their faces, and their eyes bulge and twitch...y'know, possessed.

_"That's...nice."_ And of course, they shouldn't be able to hear 'me' think.

Anyways, I'm getting tired of talking about this, so lets get on with the story now.

Apparently Shan-Yu, the guy who's trying to take over China, was seen heading into the cave near this village. SO...we, and by we I mean Spiky and his friends, are going to try and take him down. I was going to tell them it sounded fishy...but, they already entered the cave.

"HEY! You guys do know this whole thing sounds fishy, right?!"

"No."

"Not really."

"Well..."

"Gawrsh, is it?" I left Spiky's shadow AGAIN, and went to slap myself in the face. This was getting old. FAST.

"Come on...you have to admit **(Shuffle Shuffle)** that this whole thing's sounds to convienent. I mean **(Huh? There's nothing here...)** isn't this just too-HEY! Don't just walk off when someone's talking!!" I shouted. Goofy and Donald were walking towards me, while Mulan and Spiky were still standing within the large circular area of the cave.

(Ting!)

And whaddya know, a magic barrier's turned on, and Mulan and Spiky are now surrounded by Heartlesses. "SEE!" I shouted...

Before hitting the said barrier face first. "What the heck?!" My collar was shining furiously now, and so was Sora's weapon. And then I remembered...

_"Listen, Sora. This collar will make that Heartless listen to you, yes. But it will also keep him close, so he can't run away."_

"You have gotta be kidding me!" The collar shined again, and I somehow managed to break through the barrier...which just repaired itself after. The collar seemed to have a mind of its own, dragging me face first into the ground to Spiky. "Ptoo!" Again, dirt managed to crawl back in my mouth, along with some musty cave water. That's _delicious_.

Not even looking at Spiky, or Mulan for that matter, I turned to the Heartlesses. "Say one word, and I'll rip out your tongues." They didn't say a word, as the Heartlesses charged at us.

* * *

"Ah, that wasn't so bad." Spiky said, his weapon disappeared into light. I had to shield my eyes from that, though, because it was 'pure'. Sure, Spiky could hold his own, but Mulan still fought like a drunk, that's crippled, that's out of breath...

Okay, I'll stop there.

Yadda yadda yadda, act cheerful, we're all okay...getting out of the caves...-

Only to see the village we just saw a second ago burned to the grounds. That, and some guy around Mulan's age or so holding his side.

"Captain!" Ohhh, that's who he is. Well, no matter, I stayed out of his sights and one way or another, I found out that we're heading to the summit to follow this Shan-Yu, while Captain here finds the villagers. That makes sense, send four people to fight a guy who could easily burn down a village in five minutes, or so, while the rest of thsi army goes searching for villagers who are missing, in other words dead. These opinions of mine were kept shut, as I don't think they're in the mood to hear them.

We ran up the mountain even more, eventually reaching the summit. There we saw Shan-Yu...

With his army of Heartlesses.

Well, just great...

Sora, and his 3 friends, vs Shan-Yu, and his army.

...Someone up there hates us, don't they?


	5. Chapter 5

If it was one thing I hated, it would be these dumb heartlesses.

Oh sure, I know, they're job is to kill us, we fight back to kill them, yeah...but seriously, are they kidding? These things were nothing more than bugs if anything. Flying around me, with a peck or two, and then flying away. They were more annoying than scary. The bolt towers were a different story. Just appeared out of nowhere, and gave me a a taste of what it feels like to hit a steel ball with your head.

Yeah...painful.

Not only that, my 'new' form here was slow as molasses. Seriously, I could barely move without getting my ass handed to me by those dumb flying towers! The pesky flies were alright, just spin in a spot and they just come flying and dying. Sure, I managed to kill some...but more were coming!

"ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THIS ISN'T GETTING ANY EASIER?!!" I shouted. I saw Sora in the distance, holding his ground pretty easily. Donald was doing the old 'hit-and-run' tactic, while Goofy was using his tornado attack...it didn't look so good after though, he looked ready to throw up. Mulan was actually fighting well for the first time! I was surprised, as she could barely hurt her enemies without hurting herself.

A Bolt Tower, because I was so focused on the others, managed to slam me right into the ground. Obviously, it hurt, and annoying as hell. "That's it!" I pulled myself out, and opened my jaws. And in a single moment, I ate the damn tower that was pestering me. I chewed through the blasted thing in seconds. The other stupid Bolt Towers became scared and teleported away. I grinned to myself, as the nuisances were gone now.

But, I, and everyone else, were getting tired, and that Sham-Loo or whatever the heck his name was, still had an endless supply of those bug like Heartless at his command.

"This is getting us nowhere." I sighed, falling down. It felt both cool and disgusting, as I didn't feel my spine...(The heartless I took the form off didn't have one.) I saw Sora and the others jumped near m-

(Splat!)

"Ugh, what is this thing?!" Well, if you bothered to look before you leap, you'd see that you're stamping your dirty feet on my face, idiot! "!! S-shade?!"

"No, your friend Sam who just _happened_ to lose his spine and turn into a puddle of gush."

"Uh, sorry, you really shouldn't-"

"JUST GET OFF." Honestly, the things I have to deal with here. "This isn't getting us anywhere. There are like millions of these stupid things." I swatted one of those bird/fly-like heartlesses to the ground, and let my foot crush it to a pulp.

"Well what else are we going to do?!" Donald quacked, casting another thunder spell. Then...it all stopped.

All the heartlesses suddenly stopped coming, and just vanished.

"Oh...that's just great." I sighed. It seemed Sora and other were speechless. "JUST what we needed." At the top of the snowy hills, Shang-I don't even care what's his name- was preparing to charge at us...

With his legion of Assault Riders.

"Weeeeeeeeelllll we tried." I turned around, preparing to run.

"WHAT!? OH, no you don't!!" Mushu suddenly leaped in front of me, as if he was trying to stop me.

"there's no way we can beat up all THOSE!!"

"Shhhhhhh! Keep it down!! You wanna cause an avalanche?!" That stupid lizard snarled at me.

"Avalanche?" I was pretty sure Mulan muttered something, but I didn't pay any attention to it.

"ME!? Look at yourself, stupid reptile!" Before long, Mulan ran by grabbing the lizard while she was at it. I hadn't noticed it, but she was carrying one of those dragon bazooka things...

...Uh-oh...

Er, maybe I'm just overthinking it. I mean, there is absolutely no way she would be stupid enough to-

(BOOM!)

Oh my fricken...are you serious?!

"A-avalanche!!" Donald squawked.

"Run for it!" Goofy shouted. We all made a break for it, running to the side so that the snow from the mountain wouldn't bury us, and eventually toss us off the whole canyon. Off all the times to appear, the captain just HAD to show up as this was happening, what the hell was he thinking?! Thankfully, Mulan saw him, and basically tackled him out of the way...but...

"First she uses me as a lighter, then she turns me into a cannon ball. The head ancestor's gonna hear about this. You know, that's it! I give up! I can't take this no more. C'mon, Mulan. Let's quit this charade and go home, girl." Lizard breath had to just open his big mouth. I sighed, seeing the captain, or Shang, give Mulan a shocked look.

* * *

"WHAT. THE. HECK. WAS. THAT?!" I began stretching the stupid lizards cheeks wondering what the heck possesed him to do something so freakin' stupid.

"A sheurri ohey! Way, wai av bew wepuri wee?!" (I'm sorry okay! Wait, why are you lecturing me?!)

"Because everyone's gone depressed over what you just did!!" I cursed, as the dumb lizard bit my fingers.

"I don't need to hear this from you, doggie!"

(Woof Woof!)

**_TWITCH_**

"Do..ggy?!" I think the group stopped talking now, but who the hell cares now.

"Yeah, DOG! Fetch puppy!" In a single second, the stupid lizard shot a ball of flames that met its target. MY FACE. Wiping the ashes off my face, I glared at him.

"That's. It."

"Bring it, doggy!" The lizard taunted, grinning. His grin immediatley died, as I grabbed him with my hands.

"Now I got-woah!" But before I could do anything, I was lifted into the air, and went flying down the mountain.

* * *

Cursing as I hit almost _all_ the huge rocks doen on the trail, I could hear Mushu screaming as he probably had no idea what was going on. I had a pretty good idea, though. And noooooo, the fact my collar is shining has _nothing_ to do with this.

All my tumbling eventually lead me to a cliff, and I sighed knowing what was coming next...

(KONK!)

I was dragged off the cliff, and flew straight down. Into another rock.

"See?" My eyes slowly opened, and I saw two blobs in front of me.

"Oh, but, Sora..." Even while dazed, I growled at the one on the right.

"Don't worry, Shade's perfectly fine, right Shade?" SNAP!

"LIKE HELL I'M ALRIGHT!!" I screamed. "WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST CALL ME INSTEAD OF HAVING ME KILL MYSELF GETTING HERE!?!"

"Because the moment I noticed you guys weren't here we were already halfway off the mountain. It was the quickest way." Sora stated as if it was the most obvious thing. Halfway...that must mean he was just walking down here casually while my collar here went nuts.

"Look here now-"

"Now's not the time for this! We have to get to the castle and warn Shang!" Mulan said, interrupting me.

"Warn him? Of what? Trying to get that stick out of his a-"

"NO! Shan-Yu is still alive!" Ohhhhhh....that's not good.

* * *

Well, honsestly, I'm getting pre-tt-y sick of this place. Why? Well, we go in, talk to Shang who (oh big surprise!) doesn't believe us, until he sees his soldiers turning into heartlesses. Then, we tell him to go protect the emperor while we took care of things here.

"Ah..." I opened my jaws and ate an Assault Rider charging at me in one gulp. Sora just stared at me, wide-eyed. "What?"

"...Did you just eat a Heartless?!"

"Yeah. So?" He gave me a funny look, but then decided to drop the subject. I looked and saw Mulan take care of over half the Heartlesses around us with ease. When she was finished, she looked off towards the castle.

"We have to hurry, the emperor's in danger!" She said. Holy crap, did the armor make her weak or something?

"No time to lose, right?" Sora smirked, and we all headed off towards the castle.

* * *

3rd PV

"Now. You'll bow to me!" Shan-Yu said, his sword inches away from the emperor's neck. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks, knowing that the crazy bandit there would do something bad if we pull any wrong moves. Luckily, Shang managed to use this as a chance to literally kick the bandit away and help the emperor escape. Running into the castle, the soldiers already inside locked the gates.

By the time Shan-Yu got up, Sora and his friends were in their battle positions, guarding the gate.

"It ends now!" Mulan said, pointing her sword at him.

"Right now!" Sora repeated.

"We heard the first time." Shade remarked, rolling the glowing orbs on his face, which were his eyes. Shan-Yu's hawk flew by, and landed on his master's shoulder. Then, out of nowhere, a dark aura surrounded his body, and he let out an evil laugh. "Yes, yes, we know you're evil, can we just get this over with?" Shade sighed. The bandit let out a whistle, and heartlesses appeared behind him.

"Goody, Donald, I want you two to guard the gates." Sora commanded, the two nodded. "Shade, we'll back up Mulan in dealing with that guy."

"WHAT?! If you hadn't noticed, I'm slower tahn-" Sora only grinned. "What?...Oh! Hehehe...can't believe I forgot about that." Mulan felt a bit unerved at Shade's evil glint in his eyes, but decided to move her attention back to Shan-Yu. He was charging at them, afterall.

"Mushu!"

"On it, Mulan!" From her sleeve, the dragon appeared, jaws open, and shot about 5 fireballs at Shan-Yu. The flaming projectiles forced the bandit to stop, and defend with his blade. In that moment, Sora charged him, keyblade in hand, landing a clean blow on the bandits shoulder. An audible cracking noise was heard from the blow.

"...!!" Shan-Yu let out a roar, ignoring his wound, and grabbing Sora by a leg. While still holding him, he swung Sora around in circles, eventually letting him go towards Mulan. The impact caused both to fly back.

"Hah!" An Assault Rider suddenly aimed its spear at Shan-Yu, who barely got away in time. The spear, that had just missed, stabbed the ground though, causing a shockwave that knocked the bandit further back. "Shoot, I missed."

"S-shade?!" Mulan stuttered. Raising his hand, Shan-Yu summoned 8 Assault Riders in front of him, each one charged ahead.

"Just try and get past." Shade spun his spear above his head, sparks were seen swirling with it along with fire. The Heartlesses all tackled Shade...but he didn't move an inch. "OW...why you...!" holding the spear firmly, he stuck the heartlesses with a single sweep, releasing a blue flame that incinerated them all to ash. An angry roar came, though, and Shan-Yu appeared from behind the flames, sword in hand. "Shi-!" Stabbing it in his shoulders, the bandit then went and dragged his head smashing into the ground.

"Shade!" Goofy threw his shield like a boomerang, landing a hit directly on the bandit's head. Sora passed a glance at Mulan.

"Mulan!"

"Right!" the two charged at Shan-Yu, who was still dazed, and unleashed various comboes without rest, not letting him react. Eventually, they both knocked the bandit up into the air.

"Mushu!"

"I'm on it!" The dragon jumped in the air, and shot bigger, stronger versions of his fireballs. They then homed in on their target, swirling towards him.

* * *

Shade's PV

"Gwarsh, you alright Shade?" I let out a groan. Yes Goofy, I'm fine. A butch maniac just grabbed my head and sent it crashing into the stone ground. Not to mention the stars I'm seeing floating before me. Juuuuust Peachy. "Donald?"

"..." I heard a grumble coming from the side. "Heal." The stars disappeared from my sight, replaced with a relaxing green light.

"Ow ow ow." My vision returning to normal, I shook my head looking around.

(BOOM!)

When my attention was moved to the sky where something like a bomb went off. A person emerged from the smoke, heading straight down into the stone floors. "Sweet!" I couldn't help but say, but the moment was cut short when shan-what's his name began to get up. How many7 lives does this guy have?

(THUD!)

...Just one I guess. Before long, my body reverted back to its original form, for this place at least.

Yadda ya, everyone's happy, emperor actually gives Mulan credit, happy ending...

Before long though, the sword Shan-Yu had used began to glow, floating to the sky. Sora's keyblade suddenly appeared in his hands, and he too, glowed. In fact...they were just getting brighter and brighter...ow!

"Geez!" I closed my eyes, as the light grew brighter. I should've seen this coming, what with their talk about their mission. Plus, I'm a creature of darkness, not light. It was getting bad though, as I had begun to feel pain throughout my body, not just from my eyes...

_"WATCH OUT!!"_

**_"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"_**

"!!"

* * *

3rd PV...

"Guess it's time to be movin' on." Goofy said, as Sora and Donald both nodded.

"It's okay if we come back and visit, right?" Sora asked.

"Of course!" Mulan said.

"We will look forward to your return." Shang added, only getting a smile from Sora as the keyblade user walked passed them.

"You two play nice now." He snickered, earning a very red-faced Mulan, and a shocked/embarrassed look from Shang. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Shade then began running back to the place where they landed, or warped in, from their ship, waving their hands back at Mulan, saying farewell.

"Goodbye you guys!" Mulan yelled, waving back.

* * *

Shade's PV...

"Hey...HEY!"

"Hm?" I looked up, seeing Sora and the others staring at me. "What?"

"What's the matter? You seem out of it." Donald began...since when was he actually _concerned_ over me?

"Something wrong, Shade?" Goofy asked. Frankly...I didn't know what was wrong.

"You've been kinda quiet too, ever since we left that world." .... "Did something go wrong with your transforming?" We had left that world, so my form was back to being a Shadow, but...

"No...everything's alright...I'm just a little...drained, that's all." I said, lying. I wasn't really tired. It was just...**it** was still there. When I saw that light...my chest really hurt for some reason. Though it was painful...I could've sworn I felt somewhat...relieved. Relieved for what?

I noticed the three were back to driving the ship, as the path to the next world was unusually heavy with asteroids. Once we passed through the asteroids, though, we could see the next world.

...Maybe, just maybe...I can find out the reasons for my feelings from the light if I keep travelling with these guys...

* * *

A/N: BIG Writer's Block. Also, hoping to get the KH game for DS soon.


End file.
